So it was over 2 hours of the agency that runs NYC homeless shelters DHS, NYC council member Brad Landers, and Nydia Velasquez (who was VERY spicy and annoyed and mad at everyone) getting shouted at and people voicing their concerns and fears, ultimately to no avail because it's all a done deal. There were many complaints about the city paying more than they should have to the developers of these condo buildings despite the construction problems and violations, which to me of course is a problem but seems more like thinly veiled excuses to rail agains the shelters being in their backyards. The same concern about kids from the homeless shelters over populating the already strained schools kept being asked over and over to which the answer was the data shows that most kids continue going to school in the district they came from not where their new shelter is. Also they said that the property value of homes doesnt drop and the crime rate doesnt go up. Well you can imagine everyone had a hard time believing that because data isn't a very visceral thing but the image of 250+ units filled with homeless families is. These shelters are also for homeless families with children and mothers with children which should put some people at ease but not really cuz NIMBY is a powerful and human thing. So basically the poor Dept of Homeless Services people just got berated the whole time and there was heckling, booing, yelling, and generally gross human behavior which I can understand all sides of. Peeps are scared for their safety, kids scarce educational access, property values, strangers in their neighborhood, and lots of other stuff. Jen and I have all of that going on too. One guy stood up and said shame on all of you that have Syrian refugees welcome signs in your windows but now that these shelters are coming you've changed your tune. He got booed and yelled at, the mother of a hispanic family near us said I hope he's not our neighbor in a brooklyn accent. Another guy said he had concerns but welcomes the shelter and what can we do to help which got some claps but they were pretty much the only 2 people who were pro shelter. So I guess all that happens now is people got to shout and we will all just go back to to South Slope to take our medicine and some will continue to post on various park slope message boards with no hope for change. |